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Tuesday, March 18, 2014

My Cloth Diaper Stash to Be + A Way to Save With Cloth

Before I can show you my dream stash to be, I first must introduce myself properly. My name is Ashley, and I am a single 23 year old childless nursing student. I have been blessed with a huge passion for little ones and helping mamas {and daddies} learn more about how to take care of their precious cargo. After all they don’t come with instruction manuals. I learned about cloth diapering two years ago and read everything that I could get my hands on, and now I consider my self and semi-expert on the topic.

When I tell other families about the cloth diaper option a lot of times I receive the same answer, “it is just too much pay out of pocket.” True-but how many times can you rewash and reuse those Pampers? Only once. It costs about $30 for a box of disposable diapers that you use once and about $20 for one cloth diaper that can last until your little one is potty trained and further on for your next one.

I have strategized a way to help those who are conscientious about spending money on cloth to finally see the light with my future cloth diaper stash to be + a way to help them save! Warning - this plan works for me, but may not work for you. Use at your own discretion. These are in no particular order.

1. {1} Changing Diapers: The Hip Mom's Guide to Modern Cloth Diapering {$8} - This book is a must have instructional tool that will help you as a new mommy or cloth diaper expert have all the facts on cloth diapering in one easy to navigate place. Sure there are plenty of cloth diapering blogs out there, but most of the time that information can be scattered and hard to find or you may not have the web at your fingertips while lounging by the pool.

2. {1} Thirsties Pail Liner {$17} - The elastic at the top provides a snug fit on pails up to 54 quarts, while an attached closure strap holds in odors when the liner is not in a pail. In my book pail liners are a great thing to have on hand, simply because its like “throwing your diapers in the trash” just like you would with disposables. First you would need to make sure the poop is cleaned out {if formula or solid feeding} and then toss them right in with the wet diapers. I like to think of my pail and liner as a hamper for my dirty diapers.

3. {2} Thirsties Wet Bags {$29} - Many cloth diapering moms skip the pail liners and jump straight to the wet bags. I personally only like to use my wet bags for traveling out and around the town. While we are grocery shopping or visiting grandma, I would change the diaper and then toss it in the wet bag. Once we returned home I would just empty out the bag and go again. I think it is great to have two wet bags on hand in case one bag becomes dirty between washes.

4. {20} Size One & {14} Size Two Thirsties Duo All-in-One {$536} - This is where most of your money will be spent, but hey it will last you through about three babies, depending on how you treat your diapers and wear/tear. Size one is perfect for newborns till about 18 pounds whereas size two is great from 18-40 pounds. I love the AIO factor and the fact that you do not have to do any stuffing and you simply wash and wear. Thirsties are widely known for their absorption and trim fitting. Aplix is great for the size ones and snaps for the size two, so baby won’t be able to run around naked.

5. {1} bumGenius Diaper Sprayer {$60} - Diaper sprayers are perfect for spraying poop out of the diapers and from keeping you from having to dunk and swish. They are not really a must have, but for me I want one in my stash. You could also make your own sort of like the one with your sink.

6. {6} Thirsties Fab Cloth Wipes, 6pk. {$70} - Many cloth diapering moms will make their own wipes out of old tee shirts and other like materials, but I prefer the Thirsties cloth wipes. They are super soft and very absorbent, which allows me to use about two per poopy diapers. This is based off of a two day washing routine cycle.

7. {2} Thirsties One Size Pocket Diaper {$40} - These are definitely not a must have in conjunction with the diapers above, but being a Thirsties lover that I am I could not pass them up. They would be great for overnight use, because you could add more inserts inside to make it more absorbent.

8. {1} Spray Pal {$25} - This is another awesome invention to use with the diaper sprayer. I tend to make a mess of things and like having the backup to keep poop off of my walls.

9. Rockin Green Laundry Detergent {$15} - Many moms that decide to cloth diaper do not know how important it is to make sure they use a cloth diaper safe detergent. Many want to just use what they do with the original clothes, but with cloth you cannot do that. I prefer Rockin Green primarily because their awesome scents come in three different categories; Soft Rock, Classic Rock and Hard Rock that allow you to choose which detergent is better suited for your water type. Of course it would be impossible to determine how much you would use over time so this would be an item you buy regularly.

10. Thirsties Booty Love Diaper Ointment {$14} - Another thing with cloth diapering is the fact that you have to make sure to use a cloth diaper safe diaper rash cream. Other harmful creams can cause an increase infection on baby’s bum as well as destroy your cloth diapers. Just like the detergent above this will be another item you use as needed.

Based on Amazon’s price of $49 for a 234 count diapers you would spend roughly around $6000 for a 3 years worth of Diapers and Wipes. That does not count the times that baby is sick and uses more disposable diapers or the trash bags, rash creams and laundry soap for baby’s poopy diaper blowouts.

Based on Kelly Closet’s price for the items above you would spend about $800 not including laundry detergent, and rash cream for about 3 years of diapering. PLUS Kelly’s Closet always offer reward points, free items, and coupons when you purchase from the, which allows for extra savings. Also when you use cloth you can sell all of you stash and receive cold hard cash!

By Ashley

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